Now that’s a big noggin

Hank Aaron. Babe Ruth. Barry Bonds. He's got a good name. He's got a great swing. He's an asshole. If only Barry Bonds could learn a few things from his predecessors, maybe the world would have a different attitude towards him.

I admit I didn't know much about Ruth besides his legend until my son did a book report on him. I had no idea the work (and money) Ruth put in to help underpriveleged children. He took it upon himself to help the school he went to as a boy and almost singlehandedly paid to have it rebuilt when it was destroyed by fire. Sure the guy knew how to party, and he did that very well too, but he recognized the role he had. He didn't have to sign autographs but he did…always. He especially didn't have to like the media. We all know about NY and it's infamous media, but Ruth embraced them. It's hard to write something bad about a guy who just bought you dinner and all the drinks you can handle.

Maybe Barry could learn something? If he could just stop with the mood swings and answer a few questions civilly (oh wait, aren't mood swings a symptom of something…) maybe the writers would be more inclined to attribute his back pimples as "oily skin" or the size of his freakin head as "maturity". Come on, lots of people put on 80+ pounds after they turn 35 but it's usually not in your freakin head! Just quit being a jerk, and start kissing some media ass you moron. Just because the SF media gloss over your inablity to make a catch in the outfield, doesn't mean no one noticed. The fans deserve more. 714 is a HUGE number. It's also a huge responsibility. We all know the clear and the cream wasn't a mistake, and it was done with full knowledge of the repercussions. It's a tough game, and it's incredibly tough to perform at that level for that long. But let's get serious. The fans aren't complete idiots, at least not ALL of them.

Crackberry

Now I get it. The BlackBerry prayer. Most of us have laughed at the ubergeeks with their BlackBerry's checking their email at all times and in all places. I mean, who cares about their email when they're out on a hike or watching a hockey game? It's all about trying to be important, those of us have-nots like to say. Look at that guy, he thinks he's so cool.

Come to find out, he is cool. The blackberry is surprisingly functional. I've just received my first one, a Verizon 7130e. It's complete with tethering option to become a full-fledged broadband modem for my laptop. Yep, broadband. Well, in certain select cities… Still, it has Internet access and email. Oh yeah, it's also a phone. But really who cares if it's a phone? Well I do for one. When the first PDA phones came out, you'd see people holding what appeared to be books to their head and talking. At least the bluetooth headset came along. Now the 7130e actually is close to a phone in looks as well as function. Maybe it's missing voice activated dialing, but let's not get too picky.

So why would your average user need to check their email before they go to bed, on the way to work, and pretty much everywhere else? Well, they don't. But they still will with one of these babies. There's some kind of strange euphoria when you can delete spam from the parking lot of your work before you go in. You KNOW your inbox will be clean so you can go get that cup of coffee first.

It's an addiction, no doubt about it. It's also one of the first ones to get it right.